Studio Pixel loads this package with a variety of ways to experience the soundtrack. The music options (Famitracks, Organya, Cave Story+, and Remastered Soundtracks) each carry the melodies with a unique charm and identity. This frustration extends to the music as well because my goodness, the music is beyond excellent. This, coupled with a Save Point design (you can’t just leave without potentially losing significant progress), means you may be stuck in an unsavory control scheme until you’re able to escape to the Title Screen. Sadly, this option is locked to the Main Menu and you cannot change it mid-game. This option changes the jump and fire buttons and I highly recommend inverting the controls so Jump is B and Fire is Y. The Options Menu doesn’t define exactly what this means and because Cave Story is a 2D side-scroller, I ignored it. New to the Cave Story+ is the ability to “invert” controls. The other key to success with the more challenging encounters is exploring the environment to find heart capsules to expand maximum health capacity. Each has an attack pattern and weak point, and some repeat throughout the game, but defeating each boss feels better than the last. Maintaining maximum power in your armaments is particularly important when facing the challenging bosses. The tide turns quickly, however, if you manage to defeat just one enemy, you can chase after a few chips to regain dominance. The vicious cycle is interesting because as you take damage, your weapon becomes less effective, which makes the enemies more threatening. Maxing at Level 3, I thought, well that was quick! But the weapon’s damage capacity quickly decreases when taking damage. Starting with a basic pistol, you pew-pew a few enemies and collect shiny tortilla chips (they never told me they WEREN’T tortilla chips) the pistol begins leveling up, becoming more powerful and visually impressive. The most interesting mechanic is baked into the weapon level system. Even if you think you just spoke to a particular character, you may have done something since then to trigger a new response. There’s nothing as obtuse as the puzzles you might find in a classic point-and-click adventure game but in some instances, I frustratingly exclaimed “THAT’S what I needed to do?!?” A quick word of advice, talk to everyone, often. Once I realized what actions triggered the next objective, Cave Story+ began to feel more natural. In the early stages, I found myself asking “Am I back-tracking too far?” or “Is that where I need to go nowor later?” As the hours passed by, I learned how to push the game along. ![]() There’s a common realization in these types of games, isn’t there? When exploration is tied to power-ups and first-this-then-that progression, it’s only natural for players to drown in doubt. It actively pushed me away in the beginning but Cave Story+ ultimately won me over with its fundamentally basic-but-deep gameplay and catchy score. Previous versions of Cave Story have reviewed well in the past but the Nintendo Switch version is my first contact with 13 year-old game, so my expectations for greatness were challenged immediately. The small sprites and somewhat-floaty controls don’t give a great first impression. In and of itself, this ridiculous faux-conclusion doesn’t materially impact my opinion of the game, its indicative of the confidence Studio Pixel exudes with this excellent Nintendo Switch game (previously available on other Nintendo platforms).ĭon’t be fooled as I was. Available on: Nintendo Switch (other versions available on PC, Nintendo Wii, DSi, and 3DS) Strut With ConfidenceĬave Story+ has one of the most deliciously cowardice alternate endings I’ve ever seen in a video game.
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